CITY PREPARING FUNDING REQUEST TO PROVIDE HOUSING

The Morning CallTHE MORNING CALL

Allentown City Council tomorrow night is expected to refer to committee a resolution that would authorize the city to apply for $154,000 in federal rehabilitation and rent-subsidy funds for low-income multi-family housing.

The program would give Allentown the funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the 1987 federal fiscal year.

Debra Laubach, Community Development Block Grant Coordinator for Allentown, said the program, which would be in its fourth year in the city if approved, is so popular that the entire sum already is committed.

She also said Allentown is prepared to ask for an additional $150,000- $200,0 00 for this year. The extra money, she said, could come from unspent funding granted to other cities.

The portion of Allentown eligible for the program is from Front Street to 22nd Street; on the east side from Hanover Avenue south to the Lehigh River; and on the south side from the Little Lehigh Creek to Tioga and Susquehanna streets.

The council resolution authorizes Mayor Joseph S. Daddona to file a Rental Rehabilitation Program description and the required certifications with HUD. When the description is accepted by HUD, council would be authorized to enact an ordinance spending all or part of the funding.

The program would give the Allentown Housing Authority funds for 20 vouchers that enable tenants to pay 30 percent of their income for rent. The federal money would pay the difference between what the tenant pays and what the fair market value of the rehabilitated unit would be, Laubach said.

In addition, Laubach said the city would be required to monitor rental units for seven years to ensure that the units remain affordable to low-income families.

For rehabilitation work, she added, the city would provide additional funding for every dollar spent on the project by the developer.

Scheduled for final passage is an ordinance setting weight limitations for five bridges. The bridges and their weight limits are: Susquehanna Street bridge over Trout Creek and Conrail, 10 tons; the Catalina Avenue bridge over the Little Lehigh Creek, 16 tons; the private access Fullers Bridge over the Little Lehigh Creek, 3 tons; and two bridges on E. Texas Boulevard over Cedar Creek, 20 tons.

Proposed new ordinances call for the spending of $3,000 of federal funding for Camp Blue Line, $8,200 for the Allentown Recreation Commission, $300,000 for the Allentown Economic Development Corp., and $2,887,064 for housing and community development. The funds would be provided through Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.

Before tomorrow's 7:30 p.m. meeting, council will hold a 7 p.m. public hearing on requests for spending $32,148 in federal General Revenue Sharing Funds. The city is planning to use the money for fire bureau salaries, which officials said would be consistent with past practice.